Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-04-24
THE DELIGHTS OF sMlTHWLLe.
Oysters at the Bottom Of the Bay-Hav-
ing Fun with a big Sea Turtle.

Oysters at the Bottom Of the Bay-Hav-
ing Fun with a Big Sea Turtle.
Smithyille is thirty miles from Will
mington, y. c., at the mouth of the Cape
Fear river. In the bay in front Of Smith
Vile Is Coon island, which is inhabited by
IN infinite number of raccoons. Nobody
takes the trouble TO hunt them, because
nobody cares TO eat them. Not even the
darkies down there know how good roast
'coon is. Almost all the bottom Of the
great bay is covered with enormous natu-
raj beds of the largest, latest and most
d%eliciously favored oysters imaginable.
Successive generations Of oysters through
ages past have piled their shells upon
those Of their predecessors until they have
made solid masses of shells, like rock or
coral reefs, as much as twenty-five feet in
depth. In many places they have builded
until now they are out of water at low
tide, and the boys Of Smithyille find it
handy and amusing 10 build fires on them
when the tide is out and roasting them in
their beds, flirting each oyster nj Of his
shell as he is cooked and swallowing him.
The tide rises and fails about five feet.
Monster green turtles, some weighing
- much as 1900 pounds each, frequent
the beach all the way down to Fort Gas.
well, four miles brlow the town. People
eat their eggs, bug do % eat the turtles.
Beach parties IT young folks 60 down
there, gather beautiful shells, have dances
on the hard sanA in the moonlight, roast
oysters and have fun with the turtles.
When a female turtle wishes 10 lay her
Eggs she crawls up the sandy beach to a
place that suits her fancy, digs with her
fiippers n big hole in the sand and lays in
the hole 200 or 300 eggs. The eggs are
NOT dumped in a pile, but laid out smoothly
and neatly in rows. When she COM
mences laying it makes no odds to her how
big a beach party stands around superin-
tending the process. She attends strictly
10 business. and il the Eggs are taken from
the hole as fast as she lays them il does
not at all discourage or brighten her.
When she gets through she scrapes the
sand back into the hole whether the eggs
are there or not and then starts back for
the water. That is the time for the beach
party TO have fun with her. As many Of
then. as can mount her big, dome like
back 10 so. and she carries them right
down 10 the waters edge, where they
Jump of and she goes on. She does not
seem to mind their weight or show any
disposition TO resent their good natured
familiarity. Sometimes they turn her
over on her back, but after she has help
lessly paved the air a little while they
right her again and she waGdles of. OF
course, there must be something wrong
mentally in a people who can tumble
around green turtles in that way without
ever thinking Of eating. them.
And they don't eat soft clans either,
though the beach sand is packed full Of
those excellent biyalves. Indeed, the
very idea of eating them seems 10
awaken feelings Of disgust and loathing
among the darkies. Nor do they eat the
mussels, which are abundant. Hard
clans, Of which there a few millions in
pretty much every place where anybody
might look for them in the bay, they do
eat, but not with any particular enthusi.
asm, though their hard clans are really
very fine,-New York Times.